The North Downs used to be part of a great range of hills which ran from Wiltshire eastward into Flanders. These hills formed a natural route for migrating tribes until the hills between South Foreland and Cap Gris Nez subsided into the sea in approximately 6000BC. Today all that can be seen of this bridge is the white cliffs of Dover. This event did not deter the people of Europe from migrating to Britain and it is thought that possibly in the year 2000BC further migrations took place bringing knowledge of flint implements, rudimentary cultivation and farming. This period has become known as the Neolithic Revolution. During this time huge stone monuments were erected known as megaliths, these megaliths formed part formed part of burial mounds and we are lucky that some still remain to this day.

Kits Coty, Countless Stones, Coldrum Long Barrow, Addington Stones and Juliberries Grave are all important archaeological sites.

Slowly the use of Bronze implements replaced flint and in its turn somewhere around the year 500BC iron tools started to make their appearance. Early Iron Age pottery and hoards of gold coins have been found, but far more impressive are the Iron Age hill top camps at :- Oldbury, Keston and Bigbury. Oldbury built between 80 - 60BC covers an area of some 120 acres in West Kent and may have been built to protect the people from invaders from the Low Countries which settled in the Eastern part of Kent these people were known as the Belgae and eventually spread across the lowland region of Britain.

The first Roman landings took place in 55BC at Deal, they eventually reached the area which is now London but the main invasion of these shores did not occur until 43AD. 40,000 men landed at Richborough which was then an island, the landings were unopposed. The only serious attempt to stop the invasion was near Rochester, the battle lasted for two days but the local tribes were defeated and the power of Rome spread over the rest of England. The occupation lasted nearly 400 years, Canterbury, Rochester and Dover were Roman towns Canterbury being the most important, surprisingly Roman remains may still be seen :-

Forts at Richborough, Lympne and Reculver, a Roman Lighthouse at Dover and a villa at Lullingstone are of interest.

Roman power started to decline in the 4th century and it was at this time when the four forts at Richborough, Dover, Reculver and Lympne were built against the menace of the Saxon and Frankish pirates. By the year 425AD the Romans had left.

The period that followed is somewhat confusing but it is believed that Kent was not in fact inhabited by the Saxons who were in Sussex, Middlesex, Essex and Wessex or Angles who landed in East Anglia but by a mixture of Jutes and Frankish people, the story goes that Vortigen King of Kent invited Hengist and Horsa two Jutish leaders to protect his kingdom against attack, it is certain however that Jutish and Frankish people followed, the Jutes from Jutland and the Franks from the middle Rhine. The exact history of this period is unclear but of interest is that between 560 to 616AD St Augustine landed near Ebbsfleet and made his way to Canterbury carrying the Christian Gospel. This was during the reign of King Ethelbert. St Augustine was allowed to preach in St Martins church Canterbury which can still be seen to this day. During 597AD St Augustine was made a Bishop and seven years later a second bishopric was created at Rochester, no other kingdom had two bishoprics at this time, it was a long time before the rest of the country became Christian and it was not until 680AD that neighbouring Sussex converted from heathenism, this delay was partly due to the impenetrable wealden forest.

Slowly the whole of Kent was colonised but not without further incursions, the Danes raided in the 9th century and even established forts at Appledore and Milton Regis, earthworks from these forts are still in being but the Danes were never able to conquer Kent.

The next great event in our history was in 1066 the invasion by William the Conqueror. It is events from this period that has really shaped Kent as it is today, although the initial landings were in Sussex the Normans realised the strategic importance of Kent and marched up the coast to Canterbury and then to London, the Norman conquest had begun.

The Normans were very organised people and King William had the land split up into great estates. Of course he still owned the land and all the tenants had to pay allegiance to the king. Originally Norman castles were made of wood but in the 12th century stone was used to build the castles and churches that we can see today.

Castles of Norman origin are Dover, Rochester, Canterbury, Tonbridge, Chilham, Leeds and West Malling.

From these early times the shape and character of Kent began to take shape, castles and manor houses were built, towns and villages grew from the small hamlets, generally at strategic points or because of industry. There were rebellions by the local populace but the general status quo remained. Industries were created all over Kent but mainly Weaving and Iron working which tended to be centred in the Weald.

It was not until King Henry VIII's reign that a serious threat of invasion once again occurred. In 1535 Henry VIII declared himself Supreme Head of the church on earth, this of course upset the catholic nations and in 1538 invasion appeared imminent. Of great concern was the area near Deal where Julius Caesar had landed in 54BC, Henry ordered three castles to be built, Deal, Walmer, and Sandown, today only the first two remain.

When Henry VIII died, Queen Mary came to the throne and married Philip the Catholic King of Spain naturally the threat of invasion receded but only to reappear once again when the Protestant Elizabeth I succeeded Mary in 1558.

Chatham had been gaining in importance as a naval base and to protect it from the expected invasion Upnor castle was built in 1560 on the opposite bank of the river Medway. As things developed the main threat did not come from the French but from the Spanish, the Kent militia were often called out on false alarms but when the invasion eventually arrived it was prevented from landing by navy in a running battle up the whole of the English Channel, it is generally believed that Francis Drake defeated the Spanish Armada almost single handed, of course this was far from the truth, he was a great captain but the fleet was actually commanded by Lord High Admiral Charles Howard of Effingham but this has little to do with Kent and so we return to Upnor castle. Although built as a defence against the French, it was not until 1667 when a squadron of Dutch ships under DeRuyter entered the Medway and attacked the fleet, that the first shots were fired in anger.

The only time that the castles of Kent were really in action was during the Civil War, in which Parliamentarians under Oliver Cromwell were victorious, Charles Ist was executed in 1649.

The people of Kent were really neutral neither pro Monarchist or Parliamentarian. The county was governed at a local level by the County Committee and initially this committee was made up of moderate men but slowly they were replaced by men of dubious motives and the people of Kent became alienated from their leaders. In 1647 their was a rising in Canterbury the town being taken by the people, in 1648 a parliamentarian force of some 3000 men were sent to recapture the town. Naturally trials of the rioters followed and as a direct result of the events of this time there were simultaneous uprisings throughout Kent under the Royalist banner. The castles of Upnor, Deal, Walmer, Sandgate were taken as were the magazines at Rochester, Sittingbourne, Faversham and Sandwich. Canterbury and Ashford declared for the King. The fleet lying in the Downs of Deal revolted and by the end of May it was estimated that 10,000 men were under arms.

Negotiations with Parliament took place but to no avail and in May 1648 Fairfax with 7000 trained soldiers of the New Model Army advanced into Kent. His forces were split into three groups but the major battle which really decided the fate of Kent took place at Maidstone, the fighting was fierce but after two days Fairfax accepted the surrender of the defenders. Inevitably retribution followed and for the next 12 years Oliver Cromwell ruled until the return of the monarchy in 1660 when Charles II landed at Dover.

Life in Kent began to settle down with the development of trade and industry, property increased at least for some, it was a period of great house building and more than fifty great houses may be seen, as we travel around this county some of their treasures and histories will unfold.

The next real threat of invasion came in Napoleonic times, late 1700's to 1800's, as usual this heralded a series of military building, forts were built to protect the Medway and Chatham and a vast number of Martello Towers were built along the coast. They were 30ft high approximately 22ft in diameter and intended to withstand siege but after the battle of Trafalger when Admiral Nelson defeated the French and Spanish fleets in 1805 the danger of invasion all but disappeared. After the battle of Waterloo in Belgium Napoleon Bonaparte was completely defeated and peace once again returned to the Kentish countryside.

The next hundred years were a period of great change. Roads and railways were developed and industry and trade expanded, it was a period of prosperity. 1914 saw the start of the 1st World War and once again Kent became the front line, hundreds of thousands of British soldiers sailed from Kent ports to the battle fields of Flanders. The county was bombed and shelled to a limited extent but the rumble of the guns could always be heard from across the water.

The 2nd World War in 1939 was far worse for Kent, the evacuation of British and French troops from Dunkirk was organised from Dover. The Battle of Britain was carried out in Kentish skies, RAF airfields adorned the countryside and the county played a large part in the preparations for D Day in 1944.